This policy explains what Vivlo does with data, in plain English. Vivlo is a mobile app for people raising a puppy, currently in closed beta. "We", "us" and "Vivlo" mean the team behind the Vivlo app and the vivlo.co.uk website. If anything here is unclear, email us at info@vivlo.co.uk and we'll explain.
Who we are
Vivlo is provided by Joshua Thompson, a sole trader trading as Vivlo, of 124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX. For data protection law, we are the "data controller" for the personal data described here. Contact us about privacy any time at info@vivlo.co.uk.
Your puppy's data stays on your device
Vivlo is built to work on your phone. Your dog's profile, weigh-ins, body condition checks, feeding records, photos and notes are stored locally on your device. We do not receive them, so we do not have access to them. The one exception is family sharing, described below, which only happens if you switch it on.
Because this data is on your device, you are in control of it. Deleting a record in the app removes it from the app, and uninstalling the app removes the data Vivlo has stored on your device. Anything you have separately backed up yourself, for example through your phone's own backup service, is under your control rather than ours.
Family sharing (only if you turn it on)
Family sharing is the one part of Vivlo that puts your puppy's records on our servers, so we want to be plain about it. If you create an invite code, we store a copy of your puppy's profile and weigh-in history so the people you invite can read it. Your photos, notes and Moments are not included.
We also store the first name each family member joins with, and any "cheers" they send, so everyone in the share can see who did what. Family members have read-only access: they cannot change your records.
This copy sits with a secure hosting provider that stores it on our behalf, and is refreshed whenever you log something new. When you stop sharing, we delete it from our live systems, along with the invite codes and the family members' names. Copies may remain in routine backups for a short period before those backups age out.
Invite codes expire after 72 hours. Anyone holding a valid code can join the share, so treat one like a key and use "New code" to replace an old one.
Usage and diagnostic data
To make Vivlo better, it helps us to know things like which features are used and whether something is broken. During the beta we collect usage and diagnostic information that is designed not to identify you, and you can switch it off whenever you like.
- What it includes: events like "opened the growth chart" or "a screen failed to load", plus basic app and device type.
- What it is designed to exclude: your name, your dog's name, weights, photos, notes, and other details that would identify you or your pet. The app applies a strict allowlist, so only the fields on that list can be recorded.
- It's your choice: it's on by default so we can improve the beta, and you can turn it off any time in the app, under Profile, with the usage and crash reports switch.
Where this is enabled, it is handled by a privacy-focused analytics provider that processes it on our behalf. You can see exactly what would be reported under Profile, Usage & diagnostics.
Ask Vivlo (the in-app assistant)
Ask Vivlo lets you type a question and get a plain-English answer. When you ask a question, the text of your question and only the minimum information needed to answer it (such as your puppy's age or current weight) is sent securely to our AI service provider to generate a response.
- We do not send your name or contact details with the question.
- These messages are used to generate your answer, not to advertise to you.
- Ask Vivlo is general guidance and is not a substitute for your vet. If something looks urgent, the app will tell you to contact a vet.
The beta waitlist on this website
If you enter your email address on vivlo.co.uk to join the closed beta, we use it to send you a beta invite and the occasional founder update. Nothing else.
- Your email is collected and stored through our form processing provider, who handles it on our behalf.
- We do not pass it to advertisers or unrelated third parties.
- You can ask us to remove you at any time by emailing info@vivlo.co.uk, and every founder update includes a way to opt out.
Keeping the service running
When the app talks to our servers, for family sharing or for Ask Vivlo, our hosting provider records technical details of the connection, including your device's IP address. We use this to keep the service available and to prevent abuse, for example by limiting how many questions can be sent from one place in a minute.
These records are short-lived, are not used to build a profile of you, and are not linked to your puppy's records. This happens whenever your device contacts our servers, so it is not affected by the usage and diagnostics switch.
Who else touches your data
We keep third parties to a minimum. Where we use trusted service providers, they only process the information needed to provide the service on our behalf, under contract, and they cannot use it for their own purposes. This may include:
- AI services to generate Ask Vivlo responses.
- Form processing services for beta sign-ups.
- Privacy-focused analytics services, if you choose to share diagnostics.
- Secure hosting services for optional features such as family sharing.
We describe these by what they do rather than by name, so this policy stays accurate if a provider changes. Ask us at any time and we will tell you who they currently are. Some providers may process data outside the UK. See "Sending data outside the UK" below.
When the law requires it
We may have to share personal data where the law obliges us to: to comply with a court order, to answer a lawful request from an authority, or to establish or defend a legal claim. If that happens we will share only what is genuinely required, and we will tell you unless we are legally prevented from doing so.
If Vivlo ever changes hands
Vivlo is a small independent product today. If it is ever sold, or merged into or bought by another company, the data described in this policy may transfer with it, because whoever runs Vivlo needs it to keep the app working.
If that happens we will let you know. The new owner stays bound by this policy until they publish their own, and you can withdraw your consent or ask for your data to be deleted at any point, before or after.
What we collect, why, and our legal basis
Under UK data protection law we need a "lawful basis" to use personal data. Here is the whole picture in one place:
- Your puppy's records on your device (profile, weigh-ins, photos, notes): we do not receive them, so we do not process them as a controller. You are in control of them.
- Family sharing, if you turn it on (your puppy's profile and weigh-ins, plus family members' first names): used to show your puppy's growth to the people you invite. Lawful basis: your consent, which you withdraw by stopping sharing.
- Beta waitlist email: used to send your invite and occasional founder updates. Lawful basis: your consent, which you can withdraw any time.
- Ask Vivlo questions: the text of your question and minimal context is sent to our AI service provider to generate an answer. Lawful basis: providing the service you asked for (contract) and our legitimate interest in offering a helpful assistant.
- Usage and diagnostic data (unless you switch it off): used to improve the app. Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in understanding and fixing the app, balanced against your privacy by limiting collection to fields designed not to identify you, and by letting you switch it off.
- Connection and technical data (including your IP address, when your device contacts our servers): used to keep the service available and prevent abuse. Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in running a secure, working service, balanced against your privacy by keeping these records short-lived and separate from your puppy's records.
- Sharing where the law requires it, or if Vivlo changes hands: Lawful basis: our legal obligation where the law compels us, and our legitimate interest in being able to sell or transfer the business as a going concern.
How long we keep it
- On-device records: for as long as you keep them. Deleting them in the app, or uninstalling, removes them from your device.
- Shared copy, if you use family sharing: until you stop sharing, at which point we delete it from our live systems. Invite codes expire after 72 hours on their own.
- Waitlist email: until you ask us to remove you, or until the beta ends and we no longer need it, whichever comes first.
- Ask Vivlo questions: we do not keep a record of your conversations linked to you.
- Usage and diagnostic data: a small rolling buffer of recent events on your device, plus aggregated data held by our analytics provider for a limited period.
- Connection and technical data: kept only briefly by our hosting provider for security and abuse prevention, then deleted.
Where we delete something, we remove it from our live systems. Copies can persist in routine backups for a short period before those backups are overwritten in the normal course.
Sending data outside the UK
Some providers (for example our AI provider) may process data on servers outside the UK. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on appropriate legal safeguards, such as UK "adequacy" regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, so your data keeps a similar level of protection.
How we keep data safe
We hold as little personal data as we can and use encrypted connections when data is sent to a provider. Shared records are reachable only with the access token your device is issued when you create or join a share, and that token can be replaced by generating a new invite code. No system is perfectly secure, but we take steps appropriate to the sensitivity of the data to protect your information.
No automated decisions about you
Vivlo's growth curves and projections are there to inform you, not to make decisions about you. We don't use your data for automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
Cookies and this website
The vivlo.co.uk website does not use tracking or advertising cookies. If you join the waitlist, your browser sends the email you type to our form processing provider so we can store it and send your invite. That is the only data the website collects.
What we don't do
- We do not sell your data, or your puppy's records, to anyone.
- We do not show third-party advertising in Vivlo.
- Beyond the family members you invite and the providers described above, we only share your puppy's records where the law obliges us to.
Children
Vivlo is made for adults raising a puppy. It is not directed at children under 16, and we don't knowingly collect their personal data.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to access, correct, delete, or restrict the personal data we hold about you, to receive a copy in a portable form, to object to our use of it, and to withdraw consent at any time. Because most of your puppy's data sits on your device, you can exercise much of this directly in the app. For the data we hold, such as your waitlist email or a shared copy, contact us and we will act on your request.
To make a request, or if you have a concern, email info@vivlo.co.uk. We will respond within one month, as the law requires. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk, though we would like the chance to put things right first.
Changes to this policy
As Vivlo grows during the beta, this policy may change. When it does, we'll update the date at the top of this page, and we'll flag anything significant.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email info@vivlo.co.uk and a real person will reply.